WESTPORT — The Staples girls basketball team didn’t know what to expect out of visiting Brien McMahon on Friday night.

Wreckers coach Paco Fabian knew the Senators were young, but he also knew McMahon was on a two-game winning streak and could be making the trip up I-95 gung ho and full of confidence.

Instead, Staples quashed any McMahon momentum early on, turning defense into offense and rolling to a 58-39 victory.

“I saw they won their last two games, so we were concerned about them,” said Fabian. “Coming off two wins, we thought they’d have some confidence. The thing with younger kids is you never know what they’re going to do. I was hoping because it was a road game, it would be a little harder for them.”

The Wreckers (7-7 overall, 4-6 in the FCIAC) put 13 players in the scoring column; a balanced effort led by senior Alyssa Perry’s 12 points. Talia Hendel added seven while the remaining Staples players had anywhere between five and two points.

McMahon (3-17, 2-7) was led by freshman Aija Andrews’s 19 points.

Thanks to four foul shots by Aiyanna Lee-Williams, McMahon actually held a 4-3 lead in the early going.

Staples’ defense, however, didn’t allow a Senators field goal for the first 11 minutes and 20 seconds of the game, allowing the Wreckers offense to rattle off 15 straight points to take an 18- 4 lead.

“Our defense created a lot of our offense tonight,” said Fabian. “We created a lot of turnovers, which was our goal going into the game. We wanted to score off our defense and we did that in the first half.”

Perry started the run with a 3-pointer from the wing. Gabby Perry (fast-break layup), Sophie Smith (two foul shots) and Rachel Seidman (12-footer from the baseline) followed as the Wreckers led 12-4 after the first quarter of play.

Seidman (five points) opened the second with a 3-pointer, Amanda Troelstra had a foul shot and Christine Taylor sank a lay-in to push the lead to 15 points just two minutes into the second quarter.

McMahon finally broke the lid on the basket when Michelle Perea hit a runner in the lane off a nifty feed from Andrews midway through the second quarter.

“I hate using it as an excuse, but we’re young,” said McMahon head coach Mark McElveen. “Being young and still learning how to mature in the basketball world, that’s our struggle. We got shots that we wanted early on, but because they didn’t fall — and being young — you put your head down and it sets the tone for eth rest of the night.”

Staples was still able to maintain its advantage, taking a 29-13 lead into halftime.

Andrews sandwiched two buckets around a hoop by Staples’ Alyssa Perry to make it 31-17 in the third quarter, but once again the Senators would go ice cold from the field allowing the Wreckers to run off 13 straight points.

By the time McMahon hit another field goal — some 11 minutes later — on Jocelyn Mullins’ put back, the Wreckers 30-point lead of 51-21 was cut to 28.

Over the final six minutes of the game, McMahon was able to pick up its intensity, but it was far too late for a comeback.

“We’re not the type of team that can come back,” said McElveen. “They’re hitting a wall. They may not admit it. They may not even know what the wall is, but they haven’t played as much basketball as they’re playing right now.”

Both teams will be playing a bunch of basketball next week as each squad has a three-game week lined up.

McMahon hosts St. Joseph on Monday before traveling to Danbury on Wednesday and facing cross-city rival Norwalk on Friday.

Staples will be on the road at Fairfield Ludlowe on Monday, Norwalk on Tuesday and Darien on Friday.

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